Tuscany day 2: glamping under the Tuscan sun

You won’t have television or internet (for that you’ll need to go to the main building), but at Agriturismo Il Baciarino, why bother being a slave to the grid when you can indulge in a little dolce far niente? Excuse me while I pour a glass of wine in a toast to Julia Roberts.

Where: ancient Etruscan village of Vetulonia. Tucked away on a quiet hillside surrounded by acacia trees, wildflowers, and pretty weeds, La Dolce Vita Vita lives up to its name and offers the casual air of camping life but takes the rough out of “roughing it” with indoor plumbing and hot running water within its rustic stone walls. Renovated from an old farm shed, it is one of 5 self-catering cottages on Il Baciarino’s property.

A sheltered outdoor kitchen with camp stove, dorm fridge, open dining area, hammock, sun loungers, and swedish hot tub was all it took to fall in love with this magical place. But the true hook, line, and sinker? The undeniably breathtaking view.

Make that friendly resident donkeys and a jaw-dropping view. We fed apples to the mother-daughter duo from day 1 and they had us trained like good little tourists. The next morning while I was putting the Moka on the fire, they ambled up – clop, clop, clop – and gave me a look that said, “Well where are the apples?”

Food: eventually we had to take five from basking under the hot Tuscan sun. We replenished our energy for doing more of doing nothing with a quick trip to the fish stand in Castiglione della Pescaia for cold beer and fried seafood, then purchased fixings from the Saturday morning market for lunch al fresco back home. Roasted pork sandwiches, fava beans, pecorino, chicken liver crostini, and Chianti. Cheap and tasty!

The dogs loved their new digs. Such a huge difference from being enclosed in a hotel room, and with so much to sniff and explore.

They napped in different spots throughout the day but I swear that Mister B preferred the hammock to all else. What a dog’s life, eh?

Oh gawd Lisa…Mister B especially thought he’d hit the mother lode of destinations; he didn’t even mind the donkeys (only barking at them for a minute when they first met). But wait til you see where we brought him/them the following day. It blew him away!